DISCOVERING THE WHITE CONTINENT

Package flights, activities, full board cruise

Duration:

from January 30, 2024 to February 15, 2024
16 days, 12 nights on board

Categorie:

Expedition Cruise

Destination:

Buenos Aires
Ushuaïa
Passage de Drake
Antarctic Peninsula

Starting from $14.900 per person

THE ANTARCTICA OF THE POLAR CIRCLE

In the heart of the austral summer, when the breakup finally breaks the pack ice, our cruise deviates from the overly marked routes to take you ever further south.
This is the only time slot of the year to try your luck and cross the Antarctic Circle, an experience beyond the classic emotions. Only the most seasoned cross this mythical border: James Cook in the past, Jean-Baptiste Charcot the day before yesterday, you today.

And maybe again tomorrow. Because, when you have acquired a taste for the exceptional, you come back to it.

PORTS AND EXCURSIONS

Day 1 - January 30

Dubaï to Buenos Aires

Day 2 - January 31

Buenos Aires

Day 3 - February 1st

Buenos Aires to Ushuaïa
Activity: Tierra del Fuego

Day 4 & 5 - February 2 - 3

Passage de Drake

Day 5 - February 4

Antarctic Peninsula

Day 6 - February 5

Antarctic Peninsula

Day 7 - February 6

Antarctic Peninsula

Day 8 to 12 - February 7- 10

Antarctic Peninsula

Day 13 - 14 - February 11 & 12

Passage de Drake

Day 15 - February 13

Ushuaïa to Buenos Aires

Flight from your home country to Buenos Aires airport. Group departure from Dubai but you can join from any airport.

Arrival to Buenos Aires, Argentina

Transfer from airport to your hotel
Accommodation at the Hotel Palladio MGallery 5* (or similar) - Check-in from 4 p.m. - Free evening

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In the morning, domestic flight to Ushuaïa.

Upon your arrival in Ushuaia, you will be welcomed by your guide.

Departure for a discovery of the Patagonian landscapes, at the foot of the jagged peaks and the forests of Tierra del Fuego. Lunch during the visit.

The Tierra del Fuego region extends throughout southwestern Argentina and beyond the border with Chile. At random on footpaths, during photo stops, admire several species of vegetation that make the landscapes of real paintings.

After your excursion to discover Tierra del Fuego, your cruise awaits you, moored at the foot of the city of Ushuaia. Its captain and crew welcome us on board for a first night in the Antipodes. The end of the world already reverses our perspectives: the city is very small and the horizon immense. From tonight, we are sailing in the Beagle Channel, the most important maritime route in Tierra del Fuego – if we exclude the Strait of Magellan.

On the program of this crossing, the cleaning of our expedition equipment to avoid spreading in the Deep South any dust or micro-fragment of matter that is foreign to it.

This is an opportunity to get to know our expedition team by working on a common task: to preserve the white continent from the impact of our visit. Second moment, detail our itinerary while rejoicing that the slightest opportunity can modify it. Going sailing in the ice is always letting yourself be surprised by the uncertainty that has suddenly become possible.

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During these seven full days, Your cruise sails from marvel to marvel. The sea conditions and the weather determine the decisions of the commander and the expedition leader regarding our stopovers. In the Gerlache Strait, a zodiac trip allows us to observe a whale feeding session, while in Paradis Bay, approaching a cliff allows us to contemplate blue-eyed cormorants snorting on their nests in dark rock. In Neko Harbour, a glacier calves icebergs before our eyes. We hear the ice of these melting at sea with sparkles worthy of a glass of champagne.

We mention above a possible program, adjusted from day to day to take advantage of any unexpected encounter or changing weather conditions.

Booth Island and Petermann Island were the wintering grounds of Jean-Baptiste Charcot (between 1905 and 1909). In this time, the crews marked their passage; the French built a cairn on a hill on Booth Island.

From there, Antarctica offers us to contemplate an infinite “cemetery” of icebergs stranded on the shoals of a bay. Exploring this maze in a zodiac confirms our wonder. Petermann Island was home for a long time to the southernmost colony of Gentoo penguins, a species accustomed to lower latitudes.

Climate change is breaking these habits. Antarctica, apparently eternal, reveals itself here sensitive to what affects the rest of the world. To feel this evolution, on the spot, is also to commit ourselves to curbing it, once back home.

We mention above a possible program, adjusted from day to day to take advantage of any unexpected encounter or changing weather conditions.

Will there soon be Gentoo penguins beyond the Arctic Circle? We hope not to make the sad observation to take advantage of this mythical moment: the crossing of the line, this fantasized border beyond which the pole seems to offer itself... Even if it is still nearly 3,000 km away! Our cruise sails in the Crystal Sound that the Arctic Circle divides in two. Crystalline or not, the ice is everywhere here: in glaciers carving the valleys of the Peninsula, in icebergs talking with our ship. Peaceful dialogue thanks to the watch of the deck team, which allows us to share from the bridge the intensity of its task in a universe that is both hostile and beautiful.

We mention above a possible program, adjusted from day to day to take advantage of any unexpected encounter or changing weather conditions.

This is our southernmost day. Beyond, the maze of islands and icebergs between Adelaide Island and the mainland does not allow passage. Charcot had found it. But Exploris One, despite its ice clearance, is wider than the Pourquoi Pas? Our commander and the expedition leader take us as far as we dreamed, while aiming for our safety.

On Detaille Island, the British station W has been unoccupied since 1966, but well preserved and equipped with the emblematic equipment of the scientific bases of that time. Only a few geodesy researchers came this far in the past. Oh and also, the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who played tennis there.

We mention above a possible program, adjusted from day to day to take advantage of any unexpected encounter or changing weather conditions.

It takes two days at sea to travel the scale of our emotions in the opposite direction, and descend from the heights of our unforgettable discoveries towards more everyday sensations. The comfort of Exploris One makes this trip home easier. The crew members take care to provide us with the best services – in the cabin, in the lounges, in the spa or in the fitness room – during Drake's passage. As dazzled as we are by our Antarctic experience, they are now our exploration alter egos: together, we have crossed the Circle.